IBM to boost India’s R&D and skill development in AI, chips, quantum computing

The company is expected to share its experience with ISM on intellectual property, tools and skills development, aimed at promoting innovation in semiconductor technologies such as logic, advanced packaging and chip design technologies

US technology major IBM has inked three memoranda of understanding (MoU) with the Indian government for artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductors and quantum computing with the aim of accelerating the country’s R&D efforts and upskilling its workforce in these areas.

"These are technologies that will shape the future of tech. The MoUs represent tremendous opportunities for academia, startups, innovation ecosystems, and the broader opportunity of creating global standard talent," Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said.

IBM and Digital India Corporation intend to establish a national AI Innovation Platform (AIIP) that will focus on AI skilling, ecosystem development, and integrating advanced foundation models and generative AI capabilities.

AIIP will serve as an accelerator for incubation and competency development in AI technologies and their applications for use cases of national importance. AIIP would have access to relevant capabilities of IBM’s watsonx platform, including the ability to use models in language, code and geospatial science with the intent to train models for other domains as needed.

Further, IBM would be a knowledge partner of India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) for a semiconductor research centre. The company is expected to share its experience with ISM on intellectual property, tools and skills development, aimed at promoting innovation in semiconductor technologies such as logic, advanced packaging and chip design technologies.

Through the third agreement, IBM and the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) will also explore opportunities for working together to support the advancement of India’s National Quantum Mission by building applications in areas of national interest and a skilled quantum workforce.

“This collaboration reinforces our commitment to be the trusted partner for India in enhancing its innovation capabilities. Supporting the government’s efforts in building infrastructure, enhancing human capital and knowledge creation in these three areas of technology will be integral to India’s digital transformation and economic growth,” said Sandip Patel, Managing Director, IBM India & South Asia.